Reaching The Unbanked & Underbanked

Proponents of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) often point to the additional fiscal policy options that CBDCs enable such as efficient stimulus payment delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this weakness in the U.S. financial system when the government struggled to deliver CARES Act payments quickly to those in need. As a result, the banked population with higher incomes quickly received their stimulus payments, while the unbanked and underbanked population—those in the most need of financial relief—were at the end of the line.